- 8 - 1. Office Expenses Petitioner contests respondent’s disallowance of $3,545 in deductions for office expenses incurred during 1999. These expenses include, according to petitioner’s testimony and receipts she produced, outlays for music CDs, videos, home cleaning products, packs of Kleenex, napkins, a laptop computer, computer hardware, batteries, certain office supplies, and postage. At trial, petitioner presented receipts and bank statements to substantiate her office-related expenses. Some of the receipts simply indicate the amount paid but do not contain any itemization from which the nature of the items purchased can be ascertained. The only available evidence to that effect is petitioner’s own self-serving testimony, which we are not required to accept, and which we do not, in fact, find to be credible. See Niedringhaus v. Commissioner, 99 T.C. 202, 219 (1992). Thus, with regard to the expenses for which there are no adequate receipts, petitioner’s claim fails for lack of substantiation. With respect to expenses that are supported by adequate receipts, there are items we find to be related to petitioner’s business and therefore deductible. These are expenses for office supplies, totaling some $44.4 Additionally, while petitioner 4 These comprise expenses for bookmarks, markers, writing (continued...)Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
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